This weekend the Club celebrates Alex Rashleigh’s 100th open-age game for the Pennant Hills Demons.
Alex, age 32, is in his 9th season with the Demons after joining the Club in 2018.
Alex grew up in Cherrybrook and played footy with the Westbrook Bulldogs junior club. He played 169 games and kicked 200 goals. He won a premiership in 2005 (U11) and a runners-up medal in 2008 (U14/1). In 2010 Alex received his Westbrook 10-year Service Award. 2010 was also his last season at the Bulldogs and he chose to stop playing footy.
According to Andrew Turner, coach of the Westbrook Under 16s, Alex was “arguably the gun forward of the team, with a strong lead and booming left foot. He landed goals from all over the park and often broke the hearts of opposition teams and coaches with long-range goals at critical moments in big games. He drew praise from many opposition coaches for his decisive forward play.”
Alex was also a talented cricketer, and cricket became his main sporting focus. As a junior, he played for Cherrybrook Cricket Club before moving into senior grade cricket with Sydney Cricket Club, where he also played alongside current Penno clubmate Nathan Breen.
Encouraged by longtime friend, Tim Acheson, Alex returned to footy in 2018, playing with Penno in the fourth-grade team. In their youth Alex and Tim had been on opposing sides in both footy and cricket, however, their friendship was sealed in high school at The Hills Grammar School. They now play on the same side.
For much of his career Alex played forwards or midfield, however, ‘as the body has gotten older and slower, he’s made the transition to fullback.’ Throughout his football career he has proven to be a versatile player He has good skills, sure hands and a booming left foot kick. He has good height and a solid frame equipping him well for his rugged style of play and ideally suiting him to the role of fullback.
His favourite memory is ‘kicking 4 goals against East Coast Eagles on the top deck at MKO and beating them 10 goals.’
Congratulations Alex on achieving this significant milestone!
Go Penno!
